


A Thousand Years

by citrussunscreen



Category: Free!
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M, M/M, Reincarnation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-15
Updated: 2017-11-15
Packaged: 2019-02-02 22:20:21
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,396
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12735453
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/citrussunscreen/pseuds/citrussunscreen
Summary: Young and passionate, Rin is an Olympic medalist - his face is easily seen on advertisements for a whole range of goods. Rin's popularity continues to boom and has an endless amount of sponsors lined up. Rin had never thought that a small trip to meet one of those said sponsors would change his future so drastically. Haru/Rin.





	A Thousand Years

**A Thousand Years**

Rin stretched his arms and legs after getting out of the pool. The adrenaline and rush of the water against his skin always got him tingly with excitement.

“Rin”

Looking up from the pool towards the person who called his name, Rin finds himself looking at his manager (and childhood friend) – Yamazaki Sousuke.

“There’s the talks of another sponsorship”, Sousuke informs the other as he chucks the other a towel.

Rin starts roughly towelling himself off, “alright, sounds good”.

It wasn’t unexpected for sponsorships to flow in every time Rin does well in a race. Sure, he’s a one time gold medallist at the previous Olympics, but when it’s not Olympic season, he’s training, he’s competing in other races to showcase his constant progress to the rest of the world mainly for the point of gaining sponsors. The more the better.

Forever famous after obtaining a gold medal. Suddenly one of the country’s favourite athletes. Yearly wall calendars centred around him printed and sold to the mass public. Before he knew it, Rin was promoting fresh food products, he was promoting mechanical pencils, shaving cream, suitcases, sports drinks, toothpaste, skin products – it was just a small range of every other miscellaneous items he advertised for. It was a fame that even Rin himself felt became too speedy for him, it felt surreal and happened all too quickly.

In the end, all Rin really cared about was however, plainly speaking, swimming. After reaching gold at the Olympics, Rin was sure he had ticked off his major life goal. But he wanted to continue swimming, it was his job and his hobby at the same time.

The advertising was part of his job, so he found that he couldn’t bring himself to refuse – Sousuke did all the managing for him anyway.

“The sponsor wants to meet you first”, Sousuke states and watches as Rin sends him a confused face

“What do you mean?” Rin asks, “as in, meet me in person? As just Rin?” Rin is a rather befuddled, sure some sponsors talk to him a bit when they’re discussing sponsorship, but most of them are satisfied with seeing Rin’s works in public and less of what Rin is like in person.

“Yeah”, Sousuke answers loosely, “apparently, he’s an acquaintance of Tachibana, so it’ll probably work out well.”

“Oh”, Rin frowns a little, “so you’re not coming with?”

Sousuke shakes his head, “the sponsor insisted just you, and that Tachibana will take you there.”

“This…”, Rin sighs, “this is Tachibana Makoto you’re talking about right?”

Nodding, Sousuke gives Rin the affirmative, “the one and only”.

Rin hums a little. Tachibana Makoto is an enigma, who only really entered the swimming world quite recently, Rin could not remember anything of Tachibana Makoto from the earlier days. It seems he never joined any competitions. And Rin supposes it makes sense. And them swimming different strokes, perhaps the small difference there was how Rin ended up letting the name slip through his world until recently. They were sort of friends. Tachibana was always polite and Rin could tell the other tries really hard to interact with Rin and try to become friends.

“You’ll have to pack an overnight bag, Rin”, Sousuke says before he makes his way to the bench to take a seat.

“What?” Rin looks at Sousuke with raised eyebrows, “am I staying over somewhere?”

“The sponsor lives out in rural, it’ll be a long drive – for Tachibana – I’ve cleared up your schedule, so why don’t you take this as a mini trip?” Before Rin can even complain about training, Sousuke speaks again, “the sponsor has a magnificent pool I hear, he’s more than happy for you to use it like your own.” Immediately, Sousuke can see the change in Rin’s expression and he knows that Rin will attend.

Rin did not expect that he would have to board a plane to go see his potential sponsor. The sponsor must be offering a lot if Sousuke was to clear up all of Rin’s schedule and have Rin go see the sponsor.

“It’ll be a short flight”, Tachibana smiled at Rin.

Rin nods and looks at his ticket – Osaka bound. They’re heading south, huh. Even with the mask on, people recognise him. Rin knows he’s a fair celebrity. He knows that he’s popular with the citizens, but he hasn’t quite grasped it as so yet. So when people come up to him with a smile, asking for a photo, he cannot deny them. They ask for a handshake, and he cannot deny them either. They ask for a hug and Rin is slightly reluctant but gives them a quick and short one anyway.

In the end, Rin ends up hiding himself behind Tachibana, “sorry about this, Tachibana”, Rin whispers.

“Makoto is fine”, Tachibana replies with a soft laugh.

“Then, Makoto-kun”, Rin nods.

The plane ride is short. Rin ended up reading through a biography of a former swimmer he envisioned to be. Makoto sits beside him sleeping.

When they hop off the plane, Makoto ends up carrying Rin’s carry on much to Rin’s disapproval. There’s a car waiting in the long term parking bay, and Rin isn’t surprised to see that it’s a beautiful high end car that Makoto ends up driving. He always knew that Makoto had an air of riches around him.

As Makoto puts their carry on in the boot, Rin opens the passenger seat to see that there’s a giant fluffy killer whale sitting there. Rin looks at Makoto with a wide grin on his face.

“Makoto-kun?” Rin calls out cheekily, “who’s this sitting in your passenger seat?”

Makoto is slightly flustered and explains that it is his good luck charm when driving. Rin laughs softly and nods in understanding. Instead he takes a seat at the back of the car and continues to question the plush killer whale playfully.

The drive by car takes a little more than 2 hours and 40 minutes.

They pass by beautiful fields, trees with a touch of red to them, signifying the entry of autumn, small houses with carefully planned gardens. Makoto and Rin talk a little, mostly they sing along to songs by Style Five, Rin ends up napping in the car here and there and Rin jokes often enough about how it feels like he’s on a taxi sitting in the back seat whilst Makoto drives the car.

“Iwami”, Rin whispers to himself as they drive into their destination. The car goes through a straight road, one side towards the ocean, the other side towards fields of orchard trees. At the very end of the road, Rin see a house and knows that that must be the destination. As they get closer to the house, Rin realises it appears to be more like a mansion more than anything else. There’s a beautiful fountain out front as Makoto drives around it, Rin sees all the beautiful sea animal sculptures decorating the fountain. The beautifully brick mansion looks even bigger up close.

“We’ve arrived”, Makoto states as he pulls up the car. Rin steps outside of the car and he tries to grab his overnight bag from Makoto who just continues to stay stubborn and holding onto it.

As they walk towards the front door, a man dressed smartly walks up to them with a small smile.

“Welcome back”, he greets, a hand on his chest above his heart

Rin smiles at him and greets with a soft voice, “hello, pleasure to meet you, I’m Matsuoka Rin.”

“Makoto is still smiling and introduces the man as “Ryuuzaki Rei, the newest member to our family, he’s in charge of the gardens and kitchens.”

Rin is slightly flustered but nods anyway.

Makoto pulls out a key and opens the magnificent oak double doors and holds it open for Rin. Rin is slightly wary but removes his shoes before stepping inside anyway. The first thing he sees is the grand spiral staircase before his eyes – made from well-polished wood, the sheen of the stairs almost looked as though it were regularly wiped on a daily basis. As Rin’s eyes followed the stairs up he came across a portrait.

Immediately Rin’s breath was caught.

The portrait captured a young-looking man with obsidian coloured hair and eyes as blue as the singing ocean. He wore a small smile and stood with grace beside a chair so elegant, Rin swore it was made for royalty. And in that chair, was a face Rin saw each morning in the mirror. His own face. The same shaped eyes, the same coloured eyes, the same lips, nose and smile.

“Ah”, Makoto notices that Rin has noticed the portrait that oversees the mansion and decides to answer a question Rin has not yet asked, “that’s the master of our humble abode, Duke Haruka and his wife, the Duchess.”

“Hm?” Rin takes another look and indeed the person sitting in the chair appeared to be very feminine, she was dressed in a simple pink gown with gold embroidery, it highlighted her figure really well now that Rin looked a bit longer, the chest he most definitely does not have. Her hair much longer than Rin’s current hair, the length similar to that of his younger sister – Gou. Yet he couldn’t get over how scarily their faces were. Perhaps Rin had a twin sister he didn’t know about? The thought causes a frightening ripple to run down Rin’s spine. A million reasons as to how that could’ve happened and why his family would hide that information bring out an immense fear in Rin’s gut.

“The Duke is the one who requested to see you”, Makoto explains again without Rin asking.

“The sponsor?” Rin asks to confirm.

“Yes”, Makoto responds, “I’ll show you to your room, please follow me”.

Rin nods and follows Makoto up the flight of stairs, as Rin gets closer to the portrait, the more he finds he can’t tear his eyes away from the man in the portrait, the eyes that are looking at his wife with such gentleness, Rin feels he could stare into the bright blue eyes, forever.

“The Duchess”, Rin begins, “she…” Rin finds it difficult to word his surprise at her features. He wonders what Makoto thinks of it – what else Makoto knows.

“She was Duke Haru’s most precious person”, Makoto says whimsically.

“Was?” Rin asks, more to himself.

“It’s unfortunate, but she has passed away”, Makoto sighs as he leads Rin down a corridor, “that was also when our town was renamed to Iwami”.

“I’m sorry to hear that”, Rin looks down in shame, away from the chandeliers that decorate the hallway and instead at the red carpet running down the corridor.

“It’s fine”, Makoto pauses and turns back to look at Rin, “it’s a tale from many years ago”.

Rin is slightly affronted by the way Makoto words his words and ends up giving a half shrug recognising that Makoto was not comfortable with divulging more information.

They stop outside a double wooden door again, Makoto opens the door and informs Rin, “this is your room, Rin.”

“Oh”, Rin nods, “thank you”, he walks inside and immediately turns around to look at Makoto who places his overnight bag on the night stand. He feels like he wants to leave the room straight away.

The room is decorated in a pastel pink and cream. If Rin had to guess, he’d be sure that this room was decorated and intended for a girl. He could see Gou fluttering around in a room exactly like this. Rolling around in the four-poster bed under the bed canopy, combing her hair at the night stand, organising her clothes in the walk-in wardrobe, painting her nails and eating sweets on the tufted Queen Anne chair. The absolute elegance of the room was decorated in riches that Rin could not quite fathom and appeared to be on the other end of the spectrum to his usual daily life. The chandelier in the room is pretty much the strawberry on the cake.

“Is there by any chance a different room?” Rin asks, hoping that Makoto would know.

Makoto looks at Rin with surprise but it is quickly masked again with his gentle smile, “is this room not to your liking?”

Rin scratches his head in awkwardness, “um, more like, I don’t think I could sleep comfortably in here, it’s quite… extravagant.” Rin waves his arms and points randomly at the room, hoping that Makoto would understand.

“That might be difficult”, Makoto answers, “but I will inquire to see if there is another room fitting of you”.

“Eh?” Rin starts shaking his head, “if it’s too much trouble, I’m sure I can get use to this quickly”, Rin laughs awkwardly again and scratches his head again, “more so, do you know when I can use the swimming pool?”

“Of course”, Makoto smiles, “the duke is out on business, but he will be back for dinner at 6, I’ve been told it’s definitely ok for you to use the pool freely.”

“Great”, Rin exclaims and his toothy grin quickly makes it to his expression at the thought of finally swimming. Rin then grabs his necessities from his overnight bag and follows Makoto out of the room.

They walk down the hallway again, down the grand staircase where Rin once again found himself staring at the portrait. The more he looked the more he felt entrapped.

“Would the indoor pool be best?” Makoto asks as he checks his watch and notices that it’s not quite mid-afternoon anymore.

Rin makes an affirmative sound, his steps becoming more and more light at the prospect of swimming.

When they step into the room for the indoor swimming pool, Rin almost chokes on his own saliva at the sight of the indoor pool. The stained glass running on the opposite side of the room are pictures of beautiful sea creatures in a multitude of colours, the sunlight passes through them and dances prettily on the surface of the pool, as though they were petals floating in the pool.

It’s absolutely breathtaking.

“It’s beautiful”, Rin comments.

“Our Duchess really favoured this pool during the wintery months”, Makoto smiles at Rin, “I’m sure you will too.”

Rin smiles back, his head filled with thoughts of swimming.

The indoor pool is the length he likes – 50 metres, wide enough for several lanes, well equipped with a sauna and a spa on the other end of the pool. To have the pool all to himself with the beautiful lights from the stained-glass dancing as he swam through it was perfect. Since he’s already here, he might as well make the most out of it.

Engrossed in his training, Rin quickly lost track of time. Before he knew it, it was already 5 in the afternoon. The bathroom itself too mirrored the magnificence of the mansion, it was covered in marble from the floor to the tall ceiling. Rin quickly noticed the bathtub in the bathroom for the indoor pool, and Rin found it quite amusing.

Even the etched patterns on the marbles were of sea creatures and sakura petals. Rin feels that even without knowing the master of the house, he can tell that the owner must truly love the outdoors.

Before he leaves, Rin walks by the stained-glass windows again, admiring the beautiful craftsmanship. He peers out and his eyes land on what must most definitely be the outdoor pool. Even through the stained glass, he can tell that it was stunning, most likely like everything else in the manor. However, what really catches his eyes are the cherry blossom trees planted beside the pool. Rin can imagine the beauty of the petals as the breeze swings by, gently scattering the sakura petals over the pool as he lies there watching and feeling. There’s a light step and a small smile on Rin’s lips as he happily makes his way out of the indoor pool.

Rin makes his way back to the room he’s staying in, and surprisingly, he doesn’t get lost once despite the mansion being so big. When Rin tries to look up Duke Haru on his phone, nothing pops up, there’s no information at all. With a shrug, Rin plops himself on the four-poster bed and thinks it might be appropriate to nap before dinner. He’s sure the sponsor would ask all sorts of questions based on his image. All he has to do is answer truthfully. After all, if the sponsor went all this way to invite Rin out like this, surely the deal would’ve already been set and sealed. The thought leaves Rin feeling relaxed as he falls into slumber.

.

.

.

_Rin opens his eyes and he’s standing out on the balcony looking out towards the sea. The waves roll along in a pattern that Rin is all too familiar with._

_“Rin”_

_Rin turns around away from the ocean to look towards the voice calling out to him. Rin immediately recognises the room he was looking into as the room he was napping in in the manor – the pastel decorated room which was too elegant for him to feel comfortable in. When Rin makes eye contact with the man calling for him, he can feel the realisation sink in. It’s the Duke. He looks exactly like the portrait painting hanging over the grand staircase._

_“Haru”, Rin replies in a voice he knows isn’t quite his. Rin frowns but knows that he isn’t frowning, instead he can feel himself brim with happiness and a subtle amount of embarrassment._

_“Don’t be embarrassed”, Haru states as he walks forward and offers an arm towards Rin._

_Rin wants to look at the arm, but he finds himself staring back into those clear blue eyes, mesmerised. “I’m not”, Rin responds._

_Haru chuckles and Rin decides he can listen to that chuckle for the rest of his life._

_“There’s nothing embarrassing about missing home”, Haru speaks softly and Rin knows that he loves the tone of the other’s voice._

_Rin reaches out to hold onto Haru’s arm and Rin sees the laced gloves he’s wearing. That’s not quite right. When they start walking Rin realises that he’s not himself. He’s in a dress, he can feel the petticoat against his skin with each step._

_Rin wasn’t Rin. He was the Duchess. Haru’s Duchess._

_._

_._

_._

_Rin blinks and finds himself sitting in a cove beside the shore. He can hear the waves crashing against the cliff outside. His legs are dipping in the water running into the cove whilst he’s perched on a rock, just tall enough so that if he lowers his hands, his fingers graze against the mini waves rolling in._

_Rin recognises the small tingle of anxiousness creeping into his limbs and the slight impatience that courses through his jaw. He has similar feelings just before a race._

_There’s a sudden splash that is definitely not the sound of waves, and Rin finds himself looking up and he sees the Duke again. Duke Haru with his head popping up from the water in the cove._

_“Did you wait long?” Haru asks_

_Rin shakes his head. He can feel the slight hammering in his heart, his heart was going to race. He could feel a blush rising to his cheeks when Rin takes his hand, presses his lips against it before pulling Rin into the water._

_“Let’s race”, Rin finds himself saying, his eyes never leaving Haru’s own._

_“I won’t go easy on you, even if you cry, Rin-rin”, Haru smiles._

_Rin finds himself returning the smile, there’s another splash and Rin catches sight of a beautiful tail that he thought he’d only see in stories but here it is, a beautiful tail connected to Haru. The scales shimmering with the small rays of light trickling through the cracks of the cove. Haru looks surreal._

_“If I win”, Rin starts knowing that the chance is slim, this fact is further proved by Haru raising an eyebrow, “I want you to show me your world, please”._

_Haru nods, “and if I win, you become my bride, forever”._

_._

_._

_._

_Rin blinks and finds himself staring out into the ocean again. This time it was from a room he was not familiar with. The bedroom is decorated in much darker colours and shades of blue. It almost looks like the ocean itself. It feels soothing and Rin relaxes against the softness of the bed. He enjoys that he can see the ocean even whilst lying in bed. The very open and wide windows are perfect for his viewing pleasure._

_Wanting to feel the wind on his face, Rin gets off the bed and elegantly fixes the dress he’s in before opening up the windows and stepping onto the balcony that overlooks into the ocean. He can hear and feel the wind, it ruffles his long locks and sends his dress fluttering._

_Rin doesn’t even flinch when Duke Haru walks up behind him, leans into his back and wrap his arms around Rin’s waist. It was most definitely a very normal and frequent gestures._

_“Sometimes, I start believe that you long for the sea more than I”, Haru states._

_Rin hums a bit, not denying the statement._

_“That’s when I feel rather jealous, that the sea can hold your attention captive more than mine”, Haru is blunt. Rin can only chuckle at the nuances. “Like the ocean is going to take you away from me, Rin”, Haru confesses._

_“You silly thing”, Rin leans back into Haru’s embrace, “the sea is our friend, how can you say that”_

_Haru’s hold on Rin tightens as they watch the waves in the ocean together._

_._

_._

_._

_Rin blinks and finds himself jumping into the mansion’s indoor pool. The beautiful coloured lights from the stained-glass reflex just as Rin remembers it onto the surface of the pool. Rin is immediately reminded of the slithers of light that found their way into the cove he shared with Haru so many years ago._

_He can hear Haru’s footsteps as he walks over to the pool, and Rin watches with amazement as Haru elegantly dives into the pool. A smile pulls at Rin’s lips as he watches Haru, watches as those human legs instantaneously turn into the familiar merman tail. The one shimmering under the light and creating small splashes at Rin’s fancy._

_Haru immediately swims over to Rin, he pulls Rin closer and their noses rub against each other gently. Rin giggles at the touch. Rin finds himself pressing in closer to Haru, he finds himself as close as he can. His breasts pressing enough so that it feels mildly uncomfortable. He finds he enjoys Haru’s soft touches. The combing through the hair, the small rubs against his hips and the light graze of lips against his neck._

_Rin’s arms make their way around Haru’s shoulder, he uses it as a platform to prop himself up a little so that his sharp teeth can playfully chomp down on Haru’s nose before he slips out of Haru’s grasp and beckons the other for a race._

_._

_._

_._

_Rin blinks and finds Duke Haru helping him up onto a beautiful horse drawn carriage. It looked as though it most definitely came out of a fairy tale. Rin lifts his dress up slightly so that he doesn’t step on it and takes Haru’s hand to steady himself._

_They sit side by side, arms touching in the carriage as it’s drawn and they make their way down the orchard lane that Rin remembers passing by with Makoto as they made their way towards the mansion._

_The orchard trees are blooming, peach blossoms. Rin finds beauty in the blossoms on one side of the lane and the sea on the other side._

_“They’re so beautiful every year”, Rin finds himself commenting, squeezing Haru’s hand that he had never let go of._

_Haru hums in agreement._

_“Can’t we view them together every year from now on?” Haru asks, hopeful, “with me, in Iwatobi?”_

_Rin can feel his heartstrings tugs, “Haru, I-”_

_._

_._

_._

_Rin blinks and finds himself in tears as he holds onto a wooden pole in fear as he looks up towards the black sky. The boat he’s on rocks unsteadily within the angry waves. His dress is soaked under the storming rain._

_His heart sinks when he realises that this is probably where his life ends. His heart wretches in pain knowing that he never properly said goodbye to Haru. His heart crumbles apart knowing that Haru will know that it’s the ocean that has torn them apart in this life._

_Rin hears screaming and he finds himself unable to join the chaos in such a manner. His voyage will abruptly end here with this storm. His body will sink to the very bottom of the ocean. He will not see Haru again until he is reincarnated. The thought pains him and Rin regrets._

_Perhaps he should’ve heeded Haru’s words, to not separate himself from Haru no matter the reason. No matter how much he missed home and wanted to voyage across the sea for it._

_Because this was it. Rin’s tears are washed away by the rain. His eyes widen with a fierce of the ship as Rin feels himself fly across the ship, he lands with a big impact into the ocean and Rin is immediately reminded of the small splashes Haru’s tail makes when they’re frolicking around together._

_Rin tries to swim against the current, against the raging ocean, but to no avail._

_He wants to see Haru’s azure blue eyes. But all he sees is the darkness of the ocean enveloping him into an almost eternal slumber._

_._

_._

_._

_Rin blinks and he’s lying in a soft bed. He can hear Haru’s breathing beside him. He feels safe._

_“I’m sorry, Rin” Haru says quietly as he grips Rin’s hand tightly._

_“I’m sorry too, Haru”, Rin replies and also grips Haru’s hand tightly, “I really do want to though”._

_Haru breathes in deeply, “to grow old”._

_“Yes”, Rin replies, “I’m sorry to put you through this”, he turns around to look at Haru, “you will stay with me right?”_

_“Yes”, Haru says honestly_

_“Even when I’m wrinkly and no longer the fair lady I am now?” Rin asks_

_“Yes”, Haru’s answer doesn’t change, “even when you are just a shell of what you are now, I will still stay and love you”, Haru leans in and presses his lips gently against Rin’s lips._

_“And when I am gone from this world?” Rin asks, voice a little shaky._

_“I will wait”, Haru replies, “no matter how long.”_

_“And I will find you”, Rin nods, “I’ll come back to your side and next time I will stay with you”._

_“Or maybe I will find you first”, Haru offers, “and I’ll have you remember your promised to stay with me forever, next time.”_

_“Thank you, Haru”. Rin smiles, lips press against each other again and Rin closes his eyes._

_._

_._

_._

Waking with a jolt, Rin finds himself breathing heavily, without even placing his hand over his heart he can hear his heart thump quickly. He quickly swipes his phone where he had set for his alarm to ring at quarter to 6, enough time to prepare for dinner. Rin shakes his head and tries to empty what he saw in his dreams, he can’t believe he’s barely been in this mansion for half a day and already he’s dreaming of the two people in the portrait. Not to mention he dreamt of himself as the duchess. If their faces didn’t look so similar he probably wouldn’t have dreamt of any of that at all. Rin lightly curses his imagination.

Rin takes out his toiletries and trots over the walk-in bathroom to groom himself before dinner. He puts on his Japan team swimming jacket, he hadn’t brought anything fancy after all.

The knock on his door brings Rin out of his reverie, opening the door reveals a smartly suited up Makoto.

“Dinner will be served soon, Rin”, Makoto smiles and beckons for Rin to leave and follow him.

They make their way down the hallway again, and down the grand staircase again, Rin looks at the portrait again and is reminded of his dreams. A blush quickly makes its way to his cheeks before he starts to squash the blush down and away.

The dining room bears a sense of familiarity to Rin. The polished oak, the chairs, the decoration in the room all sing to him. Rin takes his seat. Makoto excuses himself – something about having to get dinner ready – Rin is slightly puzzled, but he doesn’t mention anything.

Rin finds himself looking at the paintings in the room instead. He recognises the orchard trees, the fountain at the front of the manor. Rin scrutinises the paintings of the Duchess even more, he can’t stop himself from looking at the Duchess’ face, they were the carbon copy of each other.

And then he sees a beautiful oil painting of the cove he saw in his dreams. Rin feels a cold shiver down his spine, he dares to think that perhaps his dreams were not just a figment of his imagination.

“Rin”

Rin looks up immediately after hearing his name called out, it was a familiar voice calling his name just the way Rin liked. Straight away, he sees azure blue eyes and hair darker than coal. It was the man in the portrait. The Duke.

“Oh”, Rin stands up from the chair he was resting on and bows towards the figure before him, “you must be the Duke of this manor”, Rin looks up and sticks out his right arm, “pleasure to meet you, I’m Matsuoka Rin.” It’s strange, the Duke looks exactly like he does in the portrait. He looks no older, no younger, yet he was sure Makoto told him that the Duchess passed away a long time ago.

“The pleasure is all mine”, the Duke replies with a small smile before taking Rin’s outstretched hand, he shakes it and then brings it up to his lips for a soft press.

Shocked, Rin stares wide eyed at the Duke, when he realised what had happened, Rin takes his hand back quickly, but doesn’t stop looking at the Duke as though he had grown another head. It was real, he remembered it, just like in the dreams, the Duke’s lips were so soft against his fingers, against his hands and lips.

The Duke doesn’t seem to mind Rin’s slight state of shock and takes another step closer towards Rin, “welcome back, Rin, I’ve missed you”, Duke Haru’s voice is soft, it makes Rin swallow thickly.

Rin stands very still as Duke Haru comes even closer towards himself to the point where he can count the individual eyelashes. Haru pulls back and instead pulls out Rin’s chair and beckons for the other to take a seat.

Rin breathes in deeply and does so. He can’t keep his eyes off Haru. And it seems Haru was the same.

When Makoto comes in to serve entrée, Rin breaks his silent conversation with Haru. His head is still swimming in confusion and all he can gather from Makoto’s reintroduction is that Makoto is the manor’s butler before a professional backstroke swimmer? When Makoto leaves, they start their entrée in silence.

“The Duchess”, Rin starts wanting to make some sort of conversation so he doesn’t have to be suffocating through the silence and Haru’s intense staring, “she’s, well, she’s um – _”_ and Rin realises he doesn’t really know quite what to say about the Duchess.

“Oh”, Haru nods as though he understood what Rin was trying to say even though Rin himself did not know, “I guess it’s Duke Haru and his Duke now?” Haru contemplates, “it sounds better than companion, I think?”

Rin is confused, his confusion is clearly written all over his face, because Haru sees it straight away.

“Rin, I’m quite sure you are a very male and so the title of Duchess doesn’t quite fit you anymore, no?” Haru gives Rin another one of those smiles Rin found himself very accustomed to since his dreams. Rin is sure that in some twisted way he could see Haru’s comment as some form of sexual harassment. Rin has no idea what to say.

“You were beautiful then”, Haru reminisces, “and you are still beautiful now”.

Rin can feel the embarrassment flow through his veins and he stands up abruptly, he excuses himself and makes a dash out of the dining room. To hammered with his own thoughts, Rin doesn’t hear the Duke chasing after him until he realises that there’s grip around his wrist, immediately tugging and pulling him into the owner’s arms.

Straight away he finds himself face to face with Haru who’s looking at him with a pained face. “Why are you running, Rin?”

“Why you ask…”, Rin doesn’t struggle to remove himself from Haru’s arm. Instead he feels slightly guilty for being in the other’s arms.

“You promised you would stay”, Haru speaks, his voice is edged with a hint of desperateness, “don’t make me wait another thousand years, Rin”.

The fragility tinged in Haru’s voice makes Rin want to do whatever the Duke wants him to. But the situation is strange, and Rin does not understand why he’s confused. He doesn’t understand why this sponsor is so outwardly obsessively strange. And most of all Rin doesn’t know why he seems to be instinctively pulled into the other.

Rin is at a loss for words. He can only watch as the Duke pulls him in closer and bump their noses together. As though it were the lifting of a magical spell, Rin finds a flush of memories that aren’t his flooding through him. He remembers the time he spent before he met Haru, after meeting Haru, and the playful races they had together, the time spent in the ocean together and the complications he went through to realise that Haru was the one. Living together in the manor, sightseeing outside of the manor. He remembers the promises he made to Haru. He remembers them all, his memories of when he was not the professional swimmer Matsuoka Rin, but when he was the Duchess of Iwatobi.

“I remember”, Rin states, his hands naturally curling over to hold onto Haru, “is it ok even if I’m a boy?”

Haru does not give a verbal response, but he holds onto Rin even tighter and that’s all the response Rin needs.

They end up on the balcony watching the stars shimmer in the night and listening to the sound of the waves singing in the ocean. They talk about what Rin remembers from his previous life. Silently and smoothly everything falls into place.

“It’s as though you never left”, Haru comments.

.

.

.

Rin covers his own face as Haru peels off Rin’s clothing. Cold fingers caress Rin’s soft skin, leaving barely an inch unseen or untouched.

“Do you really have to do this?” Rin asks, his voice slightly muffled.

Haru hums in reply, “I haven’t seen you in so long, Rin, let me have this”.

Rin swallows thickly. He was – he wasn’t – “Haru, I was, I’m not a lady!”

“I know”, Haru kneads his hands into Rin’s thighs, “your thighs are a little thicker, not as soft”

Rin curses under his breath, he could feel his ears reddening in embarrassment.

Haru then starts exploring up, he holds Rin’s waist, presses his lips against the belly button, “your waist, not as thin”, Haru moves up and presses his lips against Rin’s nipples, his tongue curiously goes out to give a few licks before he nibbles on them gently, his confidence growing with the small sounds of pleasure Rin makes, “your chest, still soft”.

“This is embarrassing, Haru”, Rin moves side by side and curls up, his legs encasing Haru’s hips.

With an appropriate amount of strength, Haru removes Rin’s arms and holds them so that he can see the other’s face, “your beautiful face, hasn’t changed”, Haru smiles at the other in amazement before he brushes their nose against each other and then presses lips on lips.

“Can we go all the way tonight?” Haru asks with his lips just above Rin’s lips and eyes unwavering as he waits for Rin to open his eyes and look into his own eyes.

Rin felt like he was going to combust straight away. Haru was forward. Haru is also very good looking. And they were currently in a very compromising situation. But the feel of the other’s skin on his own was empowering, it sent tingles through his veins.

“I- I don’t – do you know how? I mean?” Rin gulps and he shudders when Haru lets go of one of his arms to caress his side. Rin screwed his eyes shut even tighter as his heart thumped harder.

“Rin”, Haru calls

Rin slowly opens his eyes to look at Haru and says shyly, “if you’re happy with me, then…”

It was all the answer Haru needed to proceed.

With each touch, Rin remembers the moments from his previous life with Haru. The way they share their love for each other and the whispers in between.

Rin is sure he’s bursting in embarrassment when he watches Haru coat his fingers in lube. There’s a giddy sense of anxiousness that makes Rin nervous but at the same time can’t stop watching as Haru laboriously coats his fingers and then his erection.

He knows that it’s going to feel cold. He knows the touch will feel wet and the sound it makes when Haru rubs his fingers together. It’s nothing new. Yet it feels new when Haru presses the lube coated finger against his entrance before very slowly wiggling the fingers in.

Rin can hear himself gasp and make all sorts of breathy sounds. It’s embarrassing but the anticipation thrives inside of him.

“You’re still very soft”, Haru whispers as he concentrates and looks at Rin’s hole he’s working hard on stretching out, “albeit tighter, but still very, very soft”.

“Haru!” Rin shrieks out at the other’s comments.

“It’s the truth”, Haru looks up and gives Rin a wide smile.

Their fingers lace together and hold onto each other tightly as Haru carefully guides his erection into Rin.

“Haru”, Rin whispers over and over again as Haru pushes in slowly. Haru responds by placing soft kisses all over Rin’s body.

It was like Rin was having his first time all over again despite knowing what all the sensations were like. When Rin looked up at Haru, he was still the same, the same as all those years ago. The same loving expression looking back at him.

“It’s kind of nostalgic”, Haru laughs a little, “I’ve missed you so much, Rin”.

Rin watches as Haru starts crying silently, tears rolling down the other’s cheeks. With grace, Rin leans up and licks the tears away, “salty”, he comments but continues to do so. To Rin, he hadn’t known any better until just recently, for Haru, he would’ve waited for over a thousand years, dying each day and drowning in his own tears.

“Rin”, Haru breathes out, “can I, inside?”

“Mm?” Rin finds himself delirious, but he understands what Haru was trying to say, “yes, that’s fine”.

Rin has his eyes squeezed tightly again when Haru fills him up. The feeling is different to his memories. But it’s not a bad difference, the feeling of the warmth flowing through him also gives Rin his release.

 

“Haru”, Rin reaches out for Haru’s hand and holds onto it, he looks into Haru’s eyes and wonders if he should say what he wanted to say.

“Hm?” Haru smiles gently at Rin, his thumb rubbing circles into Rin’s hand.

“I’m in love with you”, Rin confesses, his tone wavered a little bit but was quickly filled with confidence.

“I know”, Haru replies, “I love you too”.

.

.

.

Rin is hesitant to become a merman. He’s barely 17.

“I listened to your wishes, Rin, I let you stay human”, Haru whispers to the other, “I watched you die”.

Rin can’t tear his eyes away from Haru, the mention of death has Rin tearing up already, “Haru”.

“I sent you off on that voyage, your bright smile and beautiful dress”, Haru’s grip on Rin’s shoulders tighten, “the ocean took away from me and returned you to me colder than my marble tiles”.

“Haru, it was an accident, I didn’t want to leave you like that”, Rin sobs quietly, “I wanted to stay by your side until I was ready to go”.

Haru wipes Rin’s tears, “Rin you are so cruel, so beautiful yet so cruel”, Haru presses his lips on Rin’s cheeks over and over again, “you wanted me to watch you age and die in my arms, how can you be so cruel.”

“I just wanted to be free, Haru”, Rin’s grasp on the other’s chest tighten, yet in the end it did not end up how either of them thought it would. “I promised I’d be back, and here I am, in your arms again.”

“After a thousand years”, Haru murmurs, his face filled with sadness, “and you want me to wait even more”.

“When I’m 20.” Rin says stubbornly, his tears still quietly trickling down his cheeks.

Haru grits his teeth but still continues to wipe away Rin’s tears.

“I know that you’ve waited so long already -”

“A thousand years”, Haru interrupts, reminding Rin of the pain and longing he suffered through without the other.

“Surely another 3 years…”, Rin looks at Haru through his lashes, his heart beating fast.

“Rin”, Haru yearns.

Rin bites his bottom lip, “please, Haru, when I become of age.”

When Haru leans in to press their noses together, Rin already knows that Haru has agreed.

Rin brings Haru back to Tokyo to meet his family, they’re all super enthusiastic and want to learn more about the man who shook Rin’s heart.

“It’s rare to see Rin infatuated with something that’s not swimming”, Toraichi comments.

When Miyako asks how they met, they simply answer with ‘at sea’, that was how they originally met anyway.

Gou laughs it off when Haru mistakenly addresses her as Rin. Rin ends up elbowing the other and hissing softly, “they’re not that alike”.

Matsuoka Kyou meets Haru and immediately realises that Haru is there to whisk Rin away. She only smiles fondly at them both and gently pets Rin’s head.

Rin smiles softly in response and doesn’t let slip Haru’s true identity.

Haru is patient with Rin. He follows Rin around like a shadow, wherever Rin goes, Haru is there too. Nagisa chauffeurs them both around. And slowly, Rin finds himself swimming competitively less and less. He stays out of the media, stays out of society’s watchful eyes. Rin lets Haru watch as Rin uses the little time he has left as a human to say goodbye to the things he had as a human.

When Rin’s coming of age ceremony looms ahead, there is a heavy atmosphere with it. Rin recognises his own nervousness. He knows what it would mean to his future.

There will be no more swimming competitively. The things he has now, he’d have to slowly learn to give them up – no he has already been slowly distancing himself from everything he once held dear. Once Haru turns him into a merman, he won’t age. He will have to watch his family age and pass before him. He will have to watch his friends age and pass before him. The thought is daunting and Rin finds himself hesitating over and over again. Yet when he looks over to Haru and sees the other wait patiently, not another word of complaint, Rin feels his resolve burn brighter inside him.

He couldn’t imagine himself not dying for waiting all those years Haru waited for him – without even knowing exactly when – Rin finds himself wanting to live up to and surpass Haru’s expectations. He wants to view the blossoms with Haru yearly, he wants to admire the ocean with Haru every morning. He wants to swim alongside Haru every day. For eternity.

Haru grips Rin’s hand tightly, they look at each other and share a smile. Haru’s heart soars at Rin’s smile, he leans in and whispers into Rin’s ear, “I can show you my world this time, Rin”.


End file.
